Arjun Kanungo (born 6 September 1990) is an Indian singer and music composer, recording artist, music producer, and entrepreneur from Mumbai.[1][2][3][4]
Kanungo began his career at the age of 17, initially working on building recording studios[5][4] and developing his skills as a recording engineer and music producer. He later performed as a touring singer and guitarist for Asha Bhosle.[6][7] His breakthrough came in 2015 with the release of "Baaki Baatein Peene Baad," with rapper Badshah, which gained popularity and marked a turning point in his career.[8][9]
Following his breakout success, Kanungo released several successful tracks, including "Fursat,"[10] "Aaya Na Tu",[11] "La La La," with Neha Kakkar, "Sirrikadhey,"[12] with Anirudh Ravichander and "Ilzaam"[13] with rapper King. "Ek Dafaa (Chinamma)" peaked at number 33 on the UK Album Download Chart.[14] "La La La" with Neha Kakkar also peaked at 33 on the UK Album Download Chart.[15] "Ilzaam" peaked at 85 on Spotify's top 200 in India and 102 in Pakistan.[16]
Kanungo's music has accumulated 100s of millions of streams on digital platforms, and has had a notable impact on pop culture through his blend of urban production, contemporary melodies and emotive lyrics.[7]
In addition to his music career, Kanungo founded One Mind Music,[17] an independent music label in India. In 2024, he expanded the label to Japan with One Mind Music Japan, focusing on producing music for the Japanese and South-Asian markets. The label launched its operations with a collaboration between Kanungo and Japanese pop vocalist Ren, on the single "Tell Me",[18] a J-pop ballad sung in Japanese and English. Kanungo continues to create and perform music in multiple languages and is currently learning Japanese.[4][19]
Early life
Kanungo was born and raised in Mumbai.[20] His mother, a pistol shooter by profession,[21] trained Kanungo in the sport where he won multiple medals at the national level. He also played Basketball for his college and his state team of Maharashtra.[22][23]
He went on to major in Journalism and Mass communication at R.D. National College, Mumbai.[24]
He is a trained Indian classical singer and plays the piano and guitar. [25][26]
At the age of 18, Kanungo opened a recording studio in Mumbai called Promethean Audio.[28][29]
Kanungo's first commercial success came with "Khoon Choos Le" in the 2013 film Go Goa Gone, starring Saif Ali Khan.[30][31]
His debut single 'Baaki Baatein Peene Baad' was released on 25 September 2015 by Sony Music India. The song was written by Mayur Puri and was composed, written, recorded and produced in Sweden. The song also features Badshah.[32]
Since then he has had Several hit songs - Fursat, Ek Dafaa (Chinnama), La La la with Neha Kakkar, Tang Mujhko, Zara Zara (which peaked at 98 on Spotify India's top 200 chart[33]), Sirrikadhey and Ilzaam, to name a few. Arjun has lent his voice to several Bollywood films. His Tamil Debut came with 'Sirrikadhey', composed by Anirudh Ravichander, from the film 'Remo'.[34]
In 2022, Kanungo released his first studio album titled 'Industry' on June 16, 2022.[35][36] The album currently has over 250 millions streams across platforms. The album also featured rapper King, American singer songwriter Vaultboy, Rashmeet Kaur and Yash Vaid. Kanungo promoted the album via an India tour labelled the 'We are Industry' tour which went to 11 cities in India.[37][38]
In 2023, Kanungo released a follow up album titled 'Industry 2'. The first single from the album released on 5 July 2023.[39][40] Kanungo attributed not doing a tour for the album to a hip fracture which he experienced on a trip the Maldives with his wife.[41]
As a nature enthusiast, Kanungo promotes green energy and other alternative energy sources. He has also planted over 800 trees.[55]
He is also a three-time national gold medalist in center fire pistol shooting and a national-level basketball player.[56]
Kanungo's father, Rajendra Mehta, passed away from liver cancer in April, 2022.[57][58]
In February 2023, Kanungo suffered a hip fracture after an accident, while on vacation with his wife in the Maldives which forced him to take a break from public life for over a year.[41][59]
